Carrie Underwood
Carrie Marie Underwood Fisher was born on March 10, 1983, in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Her hometown is Checotah, OK. She grew up singing in church. From an early age, Carrie loved country music. Her early idols included Martina McBride, Faith Hill, Shania Twain, and Reba McEntire. She participated in school musicals and talent shows. Carrie attended Northeastern State University in Talequah, OK, with a major in broadcast journalism. Carrie was in the Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority. She was runner-up in the 2004 NSU beauty pageant. In the summer of 2004, Carrie tried out for the fourth season of American Idol. On the show, Carrie quickly earned fans and dominated the voting each week, never landing in the bottom three. She was eventually crowned the winner on May 25, 2005. Her debut single, "Inside Your Heaven", debuted at the number one spot on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart. To date, Underwood is the first country artist to have a number one on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart. Carrie has since returned to Idol to perform multiple times.Carrie picked the song, "Maybe It Was Memphis" for Lauren Alaina to sing at the 2011 American Idol finale. Carrie and Lauren performed "Before He Cheats" together at the Idol finale on May 25, 2011. On November 15, 2005, Carrie released her debut album, Some Hearts. ''Her second single, "Jesus, Take the Wheel" was released in October of 2005, followed by her third single, "Some Hearts" (song) which was only released to pop radio. Carrie scored her second number one with "Jesus, Take the Wheel". She later scored three more number ones with "Don't Forget to Remember Me", "Before He Cheats", and "Wasted" on various charts. "Before He Cheats" is considered Carrie's biggest hit to date. ''Some Hearts is now 7 times Platinum, becoming country music's best selling debut album so far. Some Hearts was named Billboard's Country Album of the Decade in 2009 and it is included in the list of the 100 Greatest Albums of All Time. Her sophomore album, Carnival Ride was released October 23, 2007. It was certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA. Carnival Ride had five number one singles, with "So Small", "All-American Girl", "Last Name", "Just A Dream", and "I Told You So", a cover of the original Randy Travis song. Carrie became the first country artist to score 10 number one singles with her first two albums. Carrie's third album, ''Play On'', was released on November 3, 2009, and has since been certified 2 times Platinum by the RIAA. It had three number one singles, "Cowboy Casanova", "Temporary Home", and "Undo It", and a #2 hit, "Mama's Song". So far, Carrie has 13 #1 hits and sold over 13 million albums. Carrie and Taylor Swift are currently the only two female country artists to have 13 consecutive Top 10 hits on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in the early stages of their career. Carrie has become a Grand Ole Opry member, an Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame member, was the first female in history to win the Academy of Country Music Award's Entertainer of the Year award twice, and is the best-selling American Idol alumni so far. Carrie also had her debut film appearance in Soul Surfer on April 8, 2011. Carrie married Mike Fisher, a hockey player, in July 2010. Carrie has hosted the Country Music Association Awards multiple times with Brad Paisely. She has won 5 Grammys, 5 CMA awards, and 10 ACM awards, with many others from the People's Choice, Billboard, American Music Awards,CMT, and several other award shows. She has also headlined two tours so far, which were both very successful. She was the top selling female touring country artist in both 2008 (Carnival Ride Tour) and 2010 (Play On Tour), with each tour playing to more than 1 million people each. In 2010, Carrie received the ACM Triple Crown Award. In December 2010, Carrie was honored as one of the first five CMT Artists of the Year. Also in December 2010, Carrie won a record-setting 6 awards, including Artist of the Year, at the first annual fan-voted American Country Awards on Fox. Carrie has also won two CMT Video of the Year awards, one in 2007 for "Before He Cheats" and another in 2010 for "Cowboy Casanova". She has also won CMT Music Awards for Performance of the Year (2010) for "Temporary Home" and Female Video of the Year (2007) for "Before He Cheats". Her song "Jesus, Take the Wheel" won the Grammy for Best Country Song in 2007 and her song "Before He Cheats" won the Grammy for Song of the Year in 2007. In 2010, she and Randy Travis received the Grammy for Best Country Collabaration With Vocals for "I Told You So". Carrie is also a 3-time winner of the Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. In 2009, Carrie won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Star 35 and Under. She has also won People's Choice awards for Favorite Female Artist, Favorite Country Artist, and Favorite Country Song. Also in December 2009, Carrie received the Nashville Symphony's Harmony Award. Carrie appeared on the front cover of the World Almanac in 2010. In November 2009, Carrie's very own Invitation Only concert special aired on Dish Network. There, Carrie performed some of her biggest hits for an intimate group of fan club members. In 2011, Carrie's fans voted her to #2 on the list of the 20 greatest women in country music in 20 years. Carrie is a three time ACM and CMA Female Vocalist of the Year winner. There is also a wax figure of Carrie. The wax figure wears a replica of one of Carrie's dresses and is seen in Madame Taussand's. Carrie also hosted her own Christmas variety show in December 2009. Carrie has also made appearances on shows like "How I Met Your Mother", "Sesame Street", and "The Buried Life". Carrie has performed on shows like the ACMs, CMAs, Ellen Degenneres, Oprah Winfrey, Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, Saturday Night Live, David Letterman, Good Morning America, and many others. Several of her songs have been on American Idol and CMT's "The Singing Bee". She has traveled all over the world on her tours, including the U.S., Canada, and Singapore. In June 2011, Underwood headed to Australia to promote her music, also releasing a deluxe edition of her Play On album that also contained some of her past hits. Carrie has done commercials for Hershey's, Sketchers, Olay, Vitamin Water, Nintendo DS, and others. She has also done a variety of charity work, including going to Africa for Idol Gives Back. Carrie is a vegetarian and loves animals. In June 2011, Carrie announced via her blog that she is now a vegan. She has founded the C.A.T.S. Foundation in her hometown of Checotah, OK. She has also helped victims of the 2010 Nashville flood. She has also visited troops in Iraq. Carrie also participated in the special, "Stand Up to Cancer", where she performed the song "Just Stand Up" alongside other female superstars. The song was later released to radio. Carrie is a faithful Christian and is very open about her religion. She has received several Christian/gospel music awards. Some of her inspirational songs include "Temporary Home", "Jesus, Take the Wheel", "Change", and many others. She has also recorded Christmas songs such as "O Holy Night", "Do You Hear What I Hear?", and others. Carrie is a sports fan. She performed the national anthem at the 2010 Superbowl. She has also performed at several sports shows. She has participated in celebrity softball tournaments. Before marrying Mike Fisher, Carrie was linked romantically to football player Tony Romo and actor Chace Crawford. Carrie's family includes father Stephen Underwood, mother Carole Underwood, two older sisters Shanna and Stephanie, and her rat terrier named Ace. Carrie has toured with acts such as Sons of Sylvia, Billy Currington, Craig Morgan, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Little Big Town, Josh Turner, and others. She has also worked with artists such as Vince Gill and Randy Travis, and in 2010 participated in a 3D tribute to Michael Jackson with Smokey Robinson, Usher, Celine Deon, and Jennifer Hudson at the Grammy Awards. In 2010, Underwood participated in a tribute to Brooks & Dunn by singing "Neon Moon". She has also done a tribute to Eddy Arnold at the CMA Awards, singing "Make the World Go Away". She has also performed with Steven Tyler. She has also performed with Miranda Lambert and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Carrie co-wrote a song with Ne-Yo in 2009. She has covered songs such as "Home Sweet Home", "I'll Stand By You", "How Great Thou Art", and several others. Carrie has recorded two songs with Brad Paisely- "Oh Love" on Paisely's 5th Gear album (for which they recieved a Grammy nomination) and "Remind Me" on Paisely's new album called This is Country Music. " ''Remind Me" was released to radio in May 2011. She has also performed duets with Harry Connick Jr., Dolly Parton, and David Cook. Carrie recorded "What Can I Say" with Sons of Sylvia on her Play On album. In 2011, Carrie recorded a duet with Tony Bennett on his Duets II CD. Carrie also appears on Randy Travis's 25th Anniversary album, singing a duet called "Is It Still Over?". Carrie has appeared multiple times in People Magazine's list of Most Beautiful People and has been named World's Sexiest Vegetarian in the past. Carrie participates in workouts to keep her trim figure and is very active. In February 2008, Underwood admitted she had lost 20 pounds that she had gained while on American Idol. Carrie was also named Victoria's Secret Sexiest Female Musician. She has also won the category for Hottest Legs. Carrie has also been named by TV Guide Network as Sexiest Idol Star and Sexiest Female Country Artist. Carrie was once featured on the show "Look-A-Like". Several of Underwood's songs have been featured in movies. "Some Hearts" appeared in ''Aquamarine. "That's Where It Is" appeared in New In Town."Ever Ever After" appeared in Enchanted. "There's A Place For Us" (for which Carrie received a nomination for Best Original Song at the 2011 Golden Globe Awards) appeared in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Carrie has also seen success with her music videos. All of her videos have been voted to number one by fans on CMT's Top 20 Countdown and on GAC. Her "Undo It" music video holds the record for most weeks at number one with 13 straight weeks at #1 on CMT. Carrie Underwood remains an active member in not only the country music scene but also in the music industry in general. She frequently appears in magazines and on TV. Carrie has built up a loyal fan base and has also won the respect of many critics and industry executives. She is widely known not only for her amazing voice but also for her incredible personality. Carrie has taken her place as one of country music's biggest superstars. Discography Albums * Some Hearts (2005) * Carnival Ride (2007) * Play On (2009) Singles * Some Hearts singles ** Inside Your Heaven ** Jesus, Take the Wheel ** "Some Hearts" (song) ** Don't Forget to Remember Me ** Before He Cheats ** Wasted * Carnival Ride singles ** So Small ** All-American Girl ** Last Name ** Just A Dream ** I Told You So * Play On singles * Cowboy Casanova * Temporary Home * Undo It * Mama's Song Awards See Carrie Underwood List of Awards. 'Quotes' See Carrie Underwood Quotes Links * Carrie Underwood Official Website www.carrieunderwoodofficial.com * Carrie Underwood videos, news, music and more at CMT.com www.cmt.com * www.carriefans.com * www.carrieunderwoodonline.com * www.gactv.com * www.carrieunderwood.org * www.carrieunderwood.fm * www.facebook.com/carrieunderwood Underwood